


A Quiet Farewell

by RequiemForAbsolution



Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Drabble, Duty before love, Ending Relationship, Followers of the Apocalypse, Helios One, M/M, NCR
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 05:28:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9533768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RequiemForAbsolution/pseuds/RequiemForAbsolution
Summary: Arcade and Ignacio, both Followers of the Apocalypse, know their duty. When Ignacio leaves for Helios One, Arcade accepts it with grim resignation. Their relationship is left on the sand between them as Ignacio walks away, and Arcade doesn't even watch him go.





	

Early sunlight gleamed on the rusted iron entrance to Camp McCarren.

The NCR soldiers milled about. Their clothes reeked of the Abraxo used to clean them. Their conversations were terse and quiet, information snapped on and off in short bursts of words. From the Strip came the faint echo of insincere music, the glow of the neon lights.

“Travelling with the soldiers, I see. Surrounded by men in uniforms. I’m sure this parting will be as hard on you as it is on me.”

Ignacio forced a thin smile. He knelt on the cracked tarmac, an open bag beside him, rewinding the surgical tubing so that it wouldn’t bend permanently out of shape during the long trek. Arcade stood beside him, his arms folded, watching the soldiers with the customary mix of caution and contempt that was unique to the Followers.

“You know, you could stay here. Sure, it’s filled with maniacs, but they’re the nice Freeside variety. Not the kind that will crucify you. Though maybe that’s because they don’t have the nails, I don’t know.”

“I have to go, Gannon. I need to know what the Brotherhood were doing out there.”

He looked up in time to see Arcade’s shoulders tense. His fingers were digging into his own biceps, the fabric wrinkling with the force of his grip. But when he spoke again, his voice was as light and self-deprecating as ever.

“Well, far be it from me to dissuade you from a journey through deathclaw valley to the NCR’s new toy. Ideally, you’ll be able to have the power on again within a few weeks. We could really use it here.”

Ignacio buttoned up his travelling bag and slung it across his back. Then he stood, and set a hand on Arcade’s shoulder.

“This will help Freeside. I know it will. And whatever kept the Brotherhood there, it’s better that we have it than the NCR do. You can’t blame me for that.”

“No. No, of course not. Good luck.”

The regiment of soldiers had already started to walk down the road when Arcade finally looked at him. In that moment, Ignacio saw the shadows under his eyes, the resigned acceptance of the fact. There would be no heartbroken goodbye; just the weary familiarity of losing another ally to the wasteland.

Ignacio turned and followed the soldiers. He heard Arcade’s footsteps start up and walk in the opposite direction. He kept his eyes down, on the road, avoiding potholes and pitfalls as some way of distracting himself from his thoughts.

Their relationship had begun in much the same way. Without fanfare; just with mutual, bland acceptance. They had lived in the same room at the compound, and slept side-by-side for warmth. Every waking hour was occupied with tending to life-threatening wounds, and so their moments together were brief, more out of a need for comfort than any form of love. They had accepted it, and that had been their life. Now it was over, and they would move on.

Such was life.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Arcade and Ignacio are both Followers of the Apocalypse, with similar ideologies. I wanted to explore what a relationship between them might have looked like, but given Arcade's world-weary attitude towards love, it seemed unlikely that it was any grand, romantic tale. So this little drabble was born, and others may follow. Or not.


End file.
